Shakira announces $40 million in aid for Latam

Shakira (R) and Antonio de la Rua (L) listen to former U.S. President Bill Clinton from their lunch table during the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, September 27, 2007.[Agencies]

Colombian pop star Shakira announced a $40 million donation on Thursday to repair damage caused by an earthquake in Peru and a hurricane in Nicaragua.

The singer, widely known for her single "Hips Don't Lie," revealed the donation from a foundation she co-founded during a summit on global climate change and development organized by former U.S. president Bill Clinton in New York.

Shakira is the co-founder of the Latin America for Solidarity Foundation, ALAS, which means wings in Spanish, with Nobel Prize winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

"I've seen first-hand many of the challenges facing Latin America," she said in a statement.

The two-time Grammy Award winner, who started another foundation to help poor children in Colombia when she was only 18, said 40 million infants do not go to school and 51 million people don't have access to clean water in Latin America.

"These are challenging problems that no one person can address, but working together everyone can help make a difference," she added.

The ALAS effort for Peru and Nicaragua includes partners like the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation, Telefonica, America Movil and the Red Cross.

It aims to guarantee investments for rebuilding education, sanitation and water systems in both countries.

Shakira also announced a three-year, $5 million commitment for projects for children in the region, where about 40 per cent of the population lives in poverty.